Secrets we Keep
by mercygod
Summary: Marco gets a terrible phone call in the middle of the night that will change everything. Can he handle what is happening? Will his friends be there to help him.
1. Chapter 1

To avoid confusion the italicized part of the story are flash backs and are in no particular order.

Secrets we Keep

Marco groaned rolling over in search of his phone on the night stand. "Hello" he said not even trying to remove the sleepiness out of his voice he wanted the person on the other end to know that they woke him from his sleep.

"Is this Marco Del Rossi the emergency contact for an Eleanor Nash?"

Marco sat up when he heard Ellie's name. "Yes that is me. Is there something wrong with Ellie?"

"There has been an accident she is at St. Thomas Hospital. You should get here as soon as possible." The nurse had said.

"I'll be right there." He said pulling on his clothes and grabbing his keys.

_It started one night_

_Ellie looked at her phone and noticed that she had a voicemail from Marco. The two had been playing phone tag for months now never really catching the other person at a time of convince. It had been two years since she and Marco had graduated he was busy teaching and she was working at local magazine. Even though they lived in the same town they were drifting apart. Weekly get-togethers turned monthly and then bi monthly. "Hey El I know that you are super busy but call me when you can." She heard Marco's voice. Looking at the time she realized she didn't have enough to talk to Marco and make dinner._

"_Someone is late."_

"_Sorry there were issues with the server and I had to wait until I could post my story." She said putting her stuff on the table before heading into the kitchen. "I know that it's late but what do you want for dinner?" She asked placing a kiss on Ryan's cheek. _

_Ryan stood up and followed her into the kitchen grabbing Ellie by the arm and slamming her into the wall. "You should have called to let me know you were going to be late."_

_Ellie was too shocked to say anything. She couldn't believe what had just happened. "Ryan what the hell is wrong with you?"_

"_What did you just say?" He asked slamming her into the wall again._

_She felt like she was seeing stars when her head wacked the wall. "What nothing I'm sorry." She said confused. _

"_That's more like it. Don't worry about dinner we can order pizza." He said letting her go and grabbing the phone._

"_Yeah, pizza." Ellie mumbled. She caught herself before she fell to the floor now that Ryan wasn't holding her up anymore. Slowly moving to the table she pulled out a chair and sank into it resting her head on the table trying not to think of the pain. _

"_Should be here in half an hour" Ryan said walking up to the fridge. "Babe you alright?" He asked placing a water bottle in front of her. _

_Ellie snapped her head up to look at him. The fast blood rush to her already pounding head made her nauseous. She couldn't believe what he just said almost like he didn't remember trying to break down the wall with her body. He seemed so concerned so innocent that even she thought that it didn't happen. "I have a headache." She whispered moving her eyes from him to the spot on the wall where she stood not two minutes ago. _

"_Let me move you to the couch then I'll get you some aspirin." With that he leaned over to pick Ellie up and carry her to the living room. A few minutes he returned with the aspirin. _

Marco ran into the hospital looking around frantically until he found the nurses' station. "I'm Marco Del Rossi you called me about Ellie Nash." He said in a rush.

"Are you family Sir?" She asked.

"What does it matter you called me." He yelled.

"It's procedure Sir there is no need to yell."

"Sorry, yes I'm family. What's wrong with her?"

"If you could wait over there I will call her doctor for you."

Marco didn't even say anything he just walked over to the waiting area and started to pace. He was thinking of all the people that he should call but he didn't want to worry anyone without knowing what was going on.

"Mr. Del Rossi?" A man asked from behind.

"Yes. Are you Ellie's doctor?"

"I'm Dr. Drake I was working when Ms. Nash was brought in. Sorry no one talked to you earlier we were in surgery with her. Your friend is in critical condition we did everything that we could to stop the internal bleeding but there is also some brain swelling and we won't know much damage there is until the swelling goes down then we can make a prediction on whether or not she will wake up and in what time frame."

All of this was too much for Marco to handle. The only thing that he could focus on was the doctor saying that she might not wake up. "How did this happen? Was Ryan brought in with her?"

"Ms. Nash was brought in alone. All signs point to her being viciously attacked." Dr. Drake noticed the man in front of him pale considerably. "I probably shouldn't be saying this but they think that her boyfriend had something to do with this. I'm sure the cops will want to talk to you. Sorry I have to go I have other patients I will let you know if there is any change."

"Can… can I see her?"

"Nurse can you take Mr. Del Rossi to see Ms. Nash.

_A match made in heaven_

"_So when does this mystery man that you have been spending all your time with but have told me next to nothing about show up."_

"_Marco shut up." Ellie said throwing a napkin at him. "His name is Ryan he will be here soon and I have to told you about him."_

"_You have been dating him for 2 months and I am only meeting him now. Is he like 50 or something."_

"_No I just wanted to make sure I really liked him before you could scare him away."_

"_I just don't like seeing you get hurt."_

_Ellie reached across the table and grabbed Marco's hand. "I know and I love you for that. You are my best friend and that is never going to change new boyfriend or not."_

"_Then why is he coming to our weekly coffee date. Why couldn't I meet him at a time that isn't designated to be ours."_

"_I'm sorry Marco this just seemed like the perfect time. He really wants to meet you too. How about you and I can meet twice next week?" Ellie tried to bargain. _

"_Hey sorry I'm late." Ryan said kissing Ellie and then holding out his hand to Marco. "Ryan."_

_Marco took his hand. "Its nice to finally meet you. Ellie tells me wonderful things about you."_

"_Really El told me so much about you I feel like I went to high school with you guys."_

"_Well she is an amazing story teller. She is too good for the magazine." Marco joked. _

_Ellie just rolled her eyes. "I think you both are a bit delusional."_

_Marco watched as Ellie and Ryan held hands and the way that they would glance at each other. He knew in that moment that Ellie was truly and completely happy. A few hours later Ryan had to leave allowing the pair some alone time. _

"_Wow El that guy adores you."_

_Ellie couldn't help but blush. "He is something else isn't he; I think that I might be falling in love." She admitted. _

"_That's great I am so happy for you."_

"_So Ryan and I are planning a vacation. California actually I'm going to take him to meet Paige."She said slowly not knowing how Marco would take this news. He and Paige still hadn't patched things up from their last trip to California. _

"_Should be fun, as long as you are smart enough to not actually stay with her." _

"_I get that you are still pissed but are you going to hold onto this forever. She made a mistake and she tried to make it up to you."_

"_I will forgive her when and if I feel the need for it."_

Inside room 237 laid the girl that had been Marco's best friend for most of his life. The girl that he shared his best memories with, but he was unable to actually go through the door. The moment that he went in that room he would have to realize that his worst fear was coming to life. He could be losing his best friend. When Marco finally got the nerve to walk up to the door he knocked without thinking only to realize that she wasn't going to respond.

Room 237 was rather large there were two beds in the room but only one was in use. The small window didn't offer much of a view but Marco went over to it anyway. Anything to prolong him from facing the truth, he knew that he was a coward but right now he was all alone in this. The constant beeping never letting him forget why he was here. Slowly he decided to make his way to his best friend.

"Oh my god" Marco almost lost his balance when he got to Ellie's bed. He could see cuts and bruises all over her face, arms and neck. Her skin was so pale Marco thought that he could almost see through it. There was a tube coming out of her mouth to help her breath along with wires everywhere. "Oh god El I am so sorry I should have known. Should have seen this coming, should have protected you." Tears began to freely fall as he held her hand. "Ellie I need you to pull through this ok. I need you to wake up so that I could tell you all about my students and Degrassi. And you could tell me all about work and the amazing people that you get to meet. Please El I need you."

Marco watched Dr. Drake silently walk in and start to look over Ellie to see if there were any changes. From the look on his face Marco could tell that there weren't any. "Dr. do you think that it's possible to use my phone in here. There are a lot of people that I need to call and I don't feel comfortable leaving her alone."

Dr. Drake gave Marco a sympathetic look. "Sure I don't see why not. I'll be sure to tell the nurses not to give you a hard time about visiting hours."

"Thanks Dr."Marco picked up his phone looking at the contact list not knowing who to call first. He didn't really know who Ellie bothered to keep in touch with not that it mattered much at this point they would all want to know.

"Who should I call first Ellie." He asked trying to fill the silence. He scrolled past Ashley's name. "Ash? God I haven't talked to her in ages. I think she is in London. Alex? Wow I don't even know what is going on with her anymore. Craig? But I'm sure you don't want to think of him now. I know you are still bugged by the way things ended after your short lived post California romance. Jimmy? I know that he would be here in a heartbeat. Paige? Sorry Ellie I know that she is one of your closest friends but it has been three years since I last spoke to her. I just don't know if I can. Sean? Why do I even have his number? Spinner? If I call Spin than he will bring Emma and well Emma she could put a phone tree into action like no one's business I wouldn't have to make all of these calls by myself but I guess I do have to start somewhere."

"Hello." A sleepy voice answered.

"Hey sorry to call so late but it's an emergency.

_I love you so much it hurts_

"_Hey El did you see my suit. I can't find it anywhere."_

"_Well did you pick up the dry cleaning like I asked you?" She yelled from the bathroom._

"_No dry cleaning is your responsibility you should have picked it up." Ryan said making his way to the bathroom. _

"_I asked you to do it two days ago because I was swamped with work. Not to mention the fact that they are your clothes."Ellie tried not to jump when she noticed Ryan's reflection behind hers in the mirror. _

"_So your work is more important than mine?" _

_Ellie spun around to look at him. "What? I never said that." She was cut off when Ryan pushed her against the counter the corner digging into her side._

"_All I ask is that you do one thing and you can't seem to do it. Why is that?"_

"_Look Ryan…"_

"_Don't interrupt me." He said grabbing a fist full of her hair and pulled her face to his. "I think that its time that you remember all the things that I do for you. I love you Ellie but sometimes you just make it so hard." With that Ryan through Ellie towards the shower causing the tub to knock the wind out of her. "Just so you don't forget we have dinner with my co workers tonight at 7 don't be late. Oh and try not to look like a slut the other women talk."_

_Ellie waited until she heard the door leaving the apartment close before she curled herself up on the ground while taking shallow breaths so not to cause extra pain to her stomach. "What have I done?"_

"Marco? What wrong?" Jimmy asked.

"I didn't know who else to call. There has been an accident Ellie is in the hospital and it's bad really bad." He said into the phone not able to take his eyes off of his best friend.

"No you did the right thing. I will be there in soon."

"We are in room 237." With that Marco and Jimmy ended their conversation.

Jimmy was right it didn't take him long to get to the hospital and find Marco. He was positive that he must have broken a few speeding laws but he needed to get to his friends. Wheeling himself down the hallway as fast as he could he pushed open the door when he finally made it to the room. "How did this happen?" He asked when he seen his beaten and bruised friend on the bed. "I ran into the doctor and he told me what was wrong with be but not what happened."

Marco didn't even bother to look up. "They think that her boyfriend did this to her."

" Ryan? He always seemed so nice. Like perfect almost." He said wheeling himself closer.

"I guess now we know why he tried so hard to seem perfect he was really a scumbag inside. I should have seen this coming. There are signs when stuff like this happens right? I should have seen those. I told her that I would protect her and this is what I let happen."

"Hey this isn't your fault. You couldn't have seen this coming no one did. Maybe there were no signs because Ellie didn't want you or anyone else to see them. Maybe she thought that she could handle this. We won't know until she wakes up."

"But I haven't been a good friend I was so focused on my life that I wasn't spending that much time with her. We haven't talked in the longest time."

"We all get busy Marco. You aren't the only best friends that don't talk as much as you used to. Spinner and I are always busy. It's no one's fault."

"You can tell me that all you want but I will never forgive myself for this."

For the first time Jimmy looked around the room and noticed that there wasn't a sign of anyone else. "Am I the first person that you called?"

This caused Marco to sigh. "Try the only person that I called. I just don't know what to do in this situation."

"Ok than lets split up the work. I can call Ash and Spinner you can call Paige and Craig. Am I missing anyone?"

"I don't know if I can call Paige not with this."

"Marco she needs to know you have to call her. I want to make this as easy on you as possible but this is one call that you need to make. I'll be out side." Jimmy pulled out his phone and started wheeling himself toward the door. He didn't really want to be the one that called Ashley but if Marco could call Paige then he could call Ash. The call went straight to voicemail. "Hey Ash its Jimmy. I know that this is out of the blue and all but there has been an accident here. It's Ellie and its bad you should try and make it back if you can." Jimmy ended the call not knowing how much to say to a person in a voicemail when it involves the likes of their best friend.

"Jimmy its kind of late to be calling isn't it?" Emma asked when she picked up Spinner's phone noticing the caller id.

"Sorry Emma I didn't mean to wake you. I wanted Spinner."

"Its fine I was having a hard time sleeping anyway. Is everything ok?"

"I'm at the hospital with Marco, Ellie is in critical condition."

"Is she ok?" Emma asked as she made her way to the bedroom that she shared with Spinner.

"No and I have no idea if she is going to be ok."

"I'm going to wake Spinner up. Is there anything that you guys need us to do? Bring anything?"

"We are good support is all we really need. Macro especially I have never seen him so lost."

"Ok see you soon." Emma said hanging up with Jimmy. "Baby wake up we need to go." She said shaking Spinners arm.

"No its too early." He said rolling over.

"Come on Spin we have to get to the hospital."

This made Spinner shoot up in made almost making Emma fall over in shock. "Who is it? What's wrong?"

While Jimmy was outside making calls Macro started to make his. He wanted to put off talking to Paige for as long as possible.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Hey Craig did I wake you?"

"No man I'm on tour. Its great I love it."

"Wow Craig you sound so happy." This was going to destroy him. "I hate to do this to you but I have some bad news."

Craig noticed that his friend sounded different almost like he was trying not to cry. He sat down looking at his band mates milling about the bus. "It sounds serious Marco what's wrong?"

"It's Ellie I think that we might lose her Craig. Ryan beat her up. I'm at the hospital with her now Jimmy is with me. They don't know if she will wake up."

"She. Ellie. Hospital." For the first time since starting the tour he hated the bus that he was on and the people that he shared it with. The place was too small and there was nowhere for him to go to be alone and digest everything that Marco said.

"Craig, Craig are you ok?"

What a funny question. Was he ok? He should be asking Marco that. "Uh no but that's not the point. Look I' m going to talk to my manager and see if I could postpone the tour or something. Until then keep me posted."

"Sure thing Craig. I'll talk to you soon." Marco hung up and looked at Ellie. "One more call."

"Hold on." Paige yelled into the phone as she looked for an exit. "Sorry its really loud in there I'm surprised I heard my phone."

"Paige?"

"Marco?" Paige asked after hearing the voice on the other end. Almost as if she didn't believe it she pulled the phone away from her ear to check the caller ID. Her heart dropped when she noticed the time if it was 1:30 in California it was 4:30 in the morning in Toronto and Marco wouldn't call in the middle of the night.

When he heard her voice all the memories came flooding back and he kicked himself for letting this grudge go on for so long. Before he knew it he whispered "Paige I'm scared."

She didn't know why but she started to cry. She had never heard Marco sound so scared and she was dreading what he had to say. "What…what is it?" A million thoughts running through her head each one worse than the last.

"Ellie is in the hospital. The doctors they don't know…don't know" He said as tears started to fall.

"No." Paige almost yelled after she heard that Ellie was in the hospital. She knew Marco was still talking but she couldn't focus on what he was saying. She felt her legs get weak and moved to lean against the wall. "I have to get to the airport I will see you soon."

"Hey everything is going to be fine." Jimmy said when he entered the room and noticed that Marco was crying uncontrollably. Emma and Spinner are on their way."

_Picture Perfect_

"_You know we don't have to go." Ellie called out from the bedroom. She was trying to find something to cover the bruises on her arms. Part of her felt like she was back in high school trying to hide her scars. _

_Ryan walked up behind her wrapping his arms around her waist and kissed her neck. "Of course we should go I love hanging out with your old high school friends it's like seeing a different side of you. Plus you haven't seen Marco in a while. Did you pick up a house warming gift?"_

_It was times like this that Ellie fell in love with Ryan all over again despite the things that he did. She got to the point where she thought that she could predict what would set him off and then not do it. "Uh yeah I talked to Spinner last week about what Emma would want."_

"_You asked Spinner what type of gift to get?" He asked turning her around to look at him._

"_I didn't want to get them something that they already had or didn't need at all. Plus the party is something that Emma cares about more than Spin. At lunch the other day she was joking how you boys were just going to go and goof off the whole time."_

_Ryan gave her a skeptical look causing Ellie to hold her breath. "Whatever you say. We should go soon if we don't want to be late."_

_The couple seemed to be the last to arrive. Jimmy and Spinner where standing by the grill joking around as they were making food. Snake and Spike were talking with Spinners parents. Marco was talking at the picnic table with Liberty, Toby and Kendra Mason when he spotted Ellie and waved. "I'm going to go and say hi to the guys." Ryan said giving her shoulders a squeeze and walked away. _

"_Hey guys. Where is Emma I have a gift to give her?" Ellie asked when she made her way over to the picnic table. _

"_Inside I think preparing." Liberty told her standing up to give her a hug. "Come on I'll go with you."_

"_See you in a bit." She said to the remainder of the table. "Hey Spin, Jimmy" She called as she followed Liberty into the house. _

"_Going to see my lovely wife?"_

"_Yup. Remind be again how you managed to be married." She joked pausing at the door._

"_Very funny. Can you tell her everything is almost done out here."_

"_How is that possible I talked to you like 3 minutes ago and you said it was a work in progress." Toby commented as he walked toward the men._

"_Well Tobes my baby knows how to get people to focus." Ellie winked at Ryan before going inside._

"_So is there like a reward system or did you threaten them?" Toby joked._

"_Everyone is a comedian today. Oh so did Ellie tell you about the awesome gift that she got us because Emma is going to freak out."_

"_El told me that she asked you thought it was a little weird asking you what you wanted."_

"_Are you kidding I wish everyone would have asked or at least talked amongst themselves. I think we have a blender for every day of the week between this and the wedding."_

"_Hey Em where do you want this?" Ellie asked when she entered the kitchen. _

_Emma turned around and noticed that Ellie was holding a rather large box. "Well you can give it to me right now." She said holding out her hands._

_Ellie rolled her eyes and tried to not to laugh at her friend. "Fine here you go."_

_It took Emma no time to unwrap the present her eyes lighting up when she saw it. "Oh my god Ellie how did you know. Spinner said that we couldn't get one because it was too expensive." She said jumping up and down while running to hug Ellie._

"_I asked Spinner what you wanted. He said that you wanted one but couldn't get it I told him not to worry about the price. Ryan and I want to give this to you both. The color even matches the rest of the appliance." She said gesturing to the new Kitchen Aid. _

"_You know that you and Ryan make the rest of us look bad." Liberty said coming up to the other women._

"_Trust me it is all him." Ellie told them. _

"_Am I missing girl talk?" Marco asked walking into the kitchen. "Spinner is waiting for you."_

"_Just talking about the cutest couple, I'm sure you guys will be the next ones to walk down the aisle." Emma joked poking her friend in ribs._

"_Ha ha very funny." Ellie said trying to ignore the shooting pain that was coming from where Emma had poked her. "Excuse me I have to go to the bathroom. See you outside." When Ellie was positive that she was alone she lifted up her shirt to reveal a dark purple burse that was taking up half of her stomach. She hated looking at the bruises they reminded her of all the dark secrets that she was keeping from her friends. Ellie even convinced herself that she wasn't in an abusive relationship. That she and Ryan just shared something different that wasn't everyone else's idea of normal. She was happy 95% of the time and that was more than any other relationship that she was ever in. _

"We are looking for Ellie Nash. I don't care if I'm not family you have to let us see her." Marco and Jimmy both looked up and towards the door. They could hear Emma yelling at the nurses' station down the hall.

"God who would have guessed they would have become so close. They didn't even like being in the same room as one another in high school. Who knew Spinner was the magic answer." Jimmy tried to lighten the mood with a joke.

Marco let out a laugh. "Thanks Jimmy I needed that. I'm going to get Emma before she gets kicked out of the hospital." Marco said making his way to the door. When he got to the end of the hall he spotted Spinner standing behind his wife with a stunned and panicked look on his face. "Spinner" Marco called and noticed Spinner instantly relax before he remembered why he was at the hospital. He touched Emma's shoulder to get Emma's attention and then nodded toward Marco.

"Well you were no help at all." She said before following Spinner as they made their way toward Marco. "Oh my god Marco how is she?" Emma asked as she hugged her friend.

"We don't really know. Come on she is in here." He pointed toward the door letting them enter first. Marco heard Emma whimper when she looked at Ellie and seen Spinner wrap his arm around her.

"What kind of monster would do this?"She asked turning to her husband for support.

"Ryan." Marco and Jimmy said in unison.

"What! Ryan did this to her. I swear to god if I ever see him again I will kill him myself." Spinner said in a rage.

"I don't understand. Ryan and Ellie were so in love." Emma said walking toward Ellie. "She looks so fragile and broken. Did you call the others?"

"Yeah I left a message on Ash's voicemail she hasn't gotten back to me yet. Paige texted Marco that her plane will be here 8, I was thinking that you and me could pick her up Spin. I know how you feel about hospitals."

"Yeah sounds good. What about Craig?"

"I called him. Said he was on tour and would talk to his manager about postponing told him I would keep him updated." Marco told them taking a set next to Emma.

Emma placed her head on Marco's shoulder when he sat down. "Should we call Sean? He would want to know wouldn't he?"

"I was thinking about it when I seen his number in my phone but I just don't know what to say. I ruined too many people's days today."

"Do they even still talk?" Jimmy asked looking over at Spinner who was leaning against the wall.

"Jay said that Alex seen Sean in Ajax said that they hangout sometimes. I'm sure Alex would want to know they used to be close and all." Spinner told the group. "I'll call her when Jimmy and I go to pick up Paige no use in waking her up in the middle of the night. Plus she will need her rest for the long ass ride up here."

"I think that she would know whether or not Sean would want to know."

_Mr. Right_

"_Hey sorry to bother you but do you mind if I sit?"_

_Ellie looked up to see a guy around her age holding a coffee cup and one hand and a paper in the other. She wasn't going to lie to herself she thought that he was hot. "Yeah sure" She removed some of her stuff from the table. Ellie had been there for a few hours already so deep in her work she didn't realize how crowded the café had gotten. _

"_I'm Ryan by the way. You seemed so focused on your work that I didn't want to disturb you but I kinda needed a place to sit." He sheepishly told her. "I don't want to bother too much so I will just read my paper."_

"_Don't worry about it I should probably have taken a break an hour ago. Oh and I'm Ellie."_

"_Can I ask what you were working on or is that over stepping some random stranger boundaries." He grinned._

_This caused Ellie to laugh. "Oh you are over stepping the random stranger boundaries. Now you have two strikes once you get to three there is a punishment." She joked. Am I flirting? Ellie thought to herself. She couldn't believe how easy it was coming. _

"_Two strikes already hmm and what exactly would my punishment be?"_

"_Well the punishment would have to fit the crime."_

"_Really. Well how about I get to know you so that we are no longer strangers."_

"_Are you trying to cheat this fine system that you just made up like what a minute ago?" She questioned looking at her watch. _

_Ryan laughed. "You caught me I wanted to look like a bad ass rule breaker."_

"_Very smooth."_

"_So what did I so rudely disrupt you from?"_

"_Oh this it's just an article that I was working on. I write for the local magazine."_

"_A journalist that must be fun."_

"_I can't complain it's something that I love to do. What about you or is finding strangers in a coffee shop your thing."_

"_I only go after the pretty girls and my job isn't that fun I'm an accountant."_

"_That sounds uh…"_

"_Boring?" He question cutting her off._

"_Well a little but that wasn't the word that I was going to use." Ellie laughed._

"_It's ok sometimes I find it boring too. But hey I'm lucky to be doing what I'm doing." Ryan looked past her at the clock on the wall and noticed that he was running late. "Crap I have to go but I really want to get to know you better."_

_This caused Ellie to look at the time she was supposed to stop by Marco's soon. "It's no problem I have to go too. But yeah I would love to see you again." She said packing up her stuff. _

"_Want to meet back her tomorrow at 7 and we can go to dinner from here." He suggested._

"_Sounds good." Ellie said walking out with Ryan where they both parted ways. When she made it to her car she pulled out her phone. "Hey Marco I'm on my way and I just made a date with a super hot guy."_

"You want to drive or should I?" Spinner asked as he and Jimmy made their way to the parking lot.

"I'll drive you can call Alex you know her better than I do." Jimmy told his friend wheeling himself to his car.

"I wouldn't say that I know her we just have mutual friends."

"Whatever man just call the woman."

"I will just let me figure out what to say. I don't even know where to start with this."

"Trust me there is no real plan. You just kind of start talking when you hear the other person like it's your mission to inform them of this tragedy. There is nothing easy about this. I'm dreading Ashley calling me back and I have to tell her everything just like I'm dreading seeing Paige because I know that this is going to kill her."

"It's just so hard to believe that this is actually happening to someone that we know and care about. Hasn't Ellie already been through enough why add to her pain?" Spinner questioned his friend.

"I don't know what to tell you but Ellie is one tough chick if any of us could pull through this it's her." He said trying to comfort his friend.

"Well here goes nothing." Spinner said punching in the number that Marco had given him.

"Hello." A sleepy Alex answered.

"Hey Alex, its Spinner sorry to wake you."

"Spinner? God what did Jay do now?" Alex asked looking at the clock.

"Look Alex this has nothing to do with Jay I got your number from Marco. This is actually about Ellie."

"Ellie what's wrong with Ellie?"

"God I don't even know where to start with that question. It looks like her boyfriend beat her up and its bad. Like we don't know if she will wake up bad. Jimmy and I are actually on our way to pick up Paige form the airport."

"Spinner this isn't funny." Alex said getting out of bed hoping that he was playing a cruel joke on her but knowing that wasn't the case. There was something in Spinner's voice that freaked her out.

"I wish that this was a joke, I wish that I could wake up and this all be a dream. Look Emma and Marco are at St. Thomas now if you want to head over."

"Yeah sure I'll head over as soon as I can." Alex started running around the room looking for clothes after she hung up with Spinner. She was about to grab her keys and run out the door when she realized that her car was in the shop. Instead she left her apartment and walked down the hall before she started to bang on the door. "Hey Sean wake up I need your car."

Sean tried to ignore the constant pounding that was coming from his door. But if he didn't see what Alex wanted she would either break the door down or just break into his apartment. Maybe moving into the same apartment complex with Alex was a mistake it was turning into more work than it was worth. "I'm coming hold on." Sean yelled at the door as he tried to get out of bed and to the door. "What can I do for you on this fine morning Alex?"

Alex rolled her eyes and pushed Sean aside. "Um Sean you have no clothes on." She told him as she looked for his keys.

Sean looked down and noticed that Alex was right. "Maybe if you didn't wake me up so rudely I would have had time to put on clothes." He said walking towards his bed room and tugged on last nights jeans.

"Damn it Sean where are your keys." She asked throwing stuff around the room.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. When Alex tried to grab them he held them out of her reach. "Why do you need my car?"

"Mine is in the shop and I need to get to Toronto as soon as I can."

"What is so important in Toronto that you need to go right now and wake me up in the process?"

Alex didn't know how to tell Sean about the life and people that he left behind. She didn't know how he was going to take it or if he would even care at all. "Spinner called me." She watched Sean sit on the sofa and give her a why should I care look. "It was about Ellie he told me that she in the hospital. Paige is flying in so you know that it's bad."

Sean stood up clenching his fists. "What is wrong with Ellie?"

"Spinner said something about her boyfriend beating her up and they don't know if she will wake up."

It took him a while for the words to sink in. That she might no wake up. "Did I ever tell you that when I got back from Iraq I ran into Ellie. We talked you know about her parents accident and Emma being married. She helped me with being back I tried to hide the fact that I had PST but she knew you know because of her dad. Helped me find a program told me that you were living here if I needed to get away but close enough to someone that knew incase I need contact with someone that knew me. We emailed each other every so often. I was so proud of her and her accomplishments. That guy her boyfriend she loved him even talking about having kids with that bastard and he does this to her. He is not getting away with this." Sean said grabbing his shoes and shirt. "Let's go Ellie helped me when I needed it and this time I will help her."

Paige looked around the airport trying to find her friends. She got Marco's text telling her that Jimmy and Spinner were going to be the ones to pick her up. Apart of her was sad that it wasn't going to be Marco but she knew that he needed to stay with Ellie that's where he belonged.

"Paige over here." Spinner called out when he spotted his old flame.

She turned around at the sound of her name and noticed her two friends. They both looked warn out and completely drained and she knew that she looked the same. The passenger next to her kept trying to see if she was alright. Half way through the flight and the constant prodding Paige broke down in the older woman's arms and told her everything. "Spinner." She whispered running into his open arms ready and willing to take the support that he was offering. "Do we know anything new?"

Jimmy slowly got out of his chair knowing that he could only stand for a short amount of time and a lot of pain but he figured that it was worth it to welcome back Paige in this terrible time. "Nothing yet, we should get back."

"Yeah I want to see her." Paige said letting go of Jimmy after their hug.

"How long do you think it will take them to get back?" Emma asked Marco.

"I don't know I hope it's soon maybe having everyone here will be what Ellie needs to wake up."

The pair heard Emma's phone ring. "It's Spinner." She told him before picking up the phone. "Hey baby did you pick up Paige?"

"Yeah she is with us we should be back soon. I just wanted to tell you that Alex and Sean will probably beat us there. Just wanted to give you and Marco a heads up let you know what is going on."

"Thanks for letting me know. Did you tell them the room number I don't want them dealing with those bitchy nurses."

Spinner rolled his eyes glad that no one could see him. "Emma they weren't being mean or bitches its their job. You would be pissed if they let some strange psycho in to see Ellie. And yes I told them the room number. Alex and Sean have worse tempers than you do and with everyone's emotions being strained I figured it would be best to not have them deal with innocent people."

"Your right I know that it just wasn't something that I wanted to deal with. And we were the ones that let a strange psycho into Ellie's life."

Spinner cut her off. "Emma don't do this not know ok we will talk about this together when we are alone." Jimmy had told him that Marco was blaming himself for what was happening and he knew her comment would make him feel worse. But he couldn't come out and say that with Paige in the car knowing that she felt the same way as Marco that from thousands of miles away she should have known.

Emma looked up and noticed that Marco quickly averted his eyes. She realized now what Spinner had meant and wished that she would have realized that she shouldn't have said anything. "You're right I'm sorry it's just really tough. How is Paige?"

He looked behind him a sighed. "Quite. There isn't much that we can do. I'll see you soon love you."

"I love you too." She said hanging up.

"She is taking this badly huh?" Marco asked even though he knew the answer. He would bet anything that Paige was feeling the same hollow useless feeling that he was.

"I think so. Spinner said that she was really quite. Sean and Alex will be here soon.

_Until the end_

"_Ellie are you here?" Ryan called out once he entered the apartment before he heard her laughter coming through the living room._

_Ellie looked up when she heard Ryan. "Hey I have to go I'll see you tomorrow." She said into the phone before hanging up. "In here." When she finally spotted Ryan at the door her smile fell from her face. There was something in his eyes that sent chills down her back. Ellie stood up and tried to slowly make her way out of the room without causing too much attention to herself._

"_Who was on the phone? You hung up so fast was that because I came home?"_

_She looked down to see that she was still holding her phone. The tone of Ryan's voice and the hard look at his face made Ellie want to cry. She could feel the color draining from her face. "It was a co worker, Sam. He wanted some advice on a story that he was writing I told him I would help in at work tomorrow."_

_Ryan took a step towards Ellie and noticed that she took a step backwards. His eyes darkened "why are you walking away from me?"_

"_I'm not." She tried to reason but noticed that she must have moved without realizing it. It only took him two strides to reach her and grab hold of her arms. "Ryan." She whispered. Ellie felt a blinding pain when she felt Ryan slap her across the face sending her flying to the ground. _

"_You think that you can talk to another man and I would just be ok with it?" He asked kicking her in the stomach twice. Then he pulled Ellie off the ground by her hair. Once she was standing his free hand found his way to her neck. "Don't you see that I love you that I want to be with you for the rest of my life?" _

_Ellie was barley aware of what was going on as she was slammed into the wall. She could taste the blood that was pouring out of her nose. In the fog of pain she noticed that she was still holding on to her cell phone. She tried to call 911 before Ryan realized what she was doing but she didn't know if she was fitting the right buttons. After being hit by Ryan a few more times Ellie felt her grip on the phone loosening and not having the strength to hold it any longer it fell to the ground._

_Ryan heard something fall to the ground but knew that nothing could have been knocked over because they weren't near anything. He looked around and found Ellie's phone on the ground near them. "What did you do?" He asked slamming her head against the wall before leaning over to pick up the phone. There was a call in progress to the police. "You called the cops on me." He yelled throwing Ellie to the ground but the coffee table was in the way but the force caused her to break the table as she crashed into it. When Ryan turned around to look at Ellie he noticed that she wasn't moving and was covered in blood. "Oh my god Ellie." He cried running over to Ellie._

_When the police arrived with the paramedics they found a bloodied unconscious Ellie being cradled by a crying Ryan. _

A knock at the door caused Marco and Emma to look up. From where they were sitting they could see Alex and Sean through the window in the door. Emma just flicked her wrist telling them that they could come in without having to leave her seat next to Marco.

"How is she?" Alex stopped when she reached the foot the bed Ellie was in.

"We don't know. I don't even think the doctors actually know." Marco told them as he stood up and wrapped an arm around Alex.

No one really notice Sean walk into the room and sit on the edge of Ellie's bed and take her hand to hold in his. "Where is he? The boyfriend?" He asked tucking a stray strand of hair behind Ellie's ear.

Marco was silent for a moment. He had never really seen such a tender moment from Sean Cameron. He looked at Emma and noticed that she was surprised as well. "In police custody apparently he confessed a few hours ago.

The occupants of the room were stunned to hear laughter coming from the door way. The group turned around and found Paige to be the one laughing with a worried Spinner and Jimmy on either side of her. "That son of a bitch is lucky to be in jail because I would hunt his ass down and kill him myself for what he did. Jail is too good for him." They all watched in awe as Paige made her way to her friend's bed side. "Sean." She said acknowledging him as he stood up allowing her to take his place on the bed.

Sean patted Marco on the shoulder as he walked past him and towards Jimmy, Spinner, Emma, and Alex. "Maybe we should give the three of them some privacy."

"No. I don't want to leave." Emma said shaking her head hugging Spinner tighter.

Spinner squeezed his wife and then looked at Marco and Paige as they hovered over Ellie. "Sean's right let's give them some space we will just be outside the door.

They didn't notice the others leave the room. It was like they were in there own world now. "Why did this happen."Paige asked lifting her tear filled eyes to look at Marco. "I just don't understand why this happened to her. It's not fair."

"I've been here for hours and I still can't believe it. She looks so broken. And if she doesn't pull through this I'm afraid that it will destroy us all."

Paige walked over and hugged Marco. "I am so sorry for what I did to you. I have missed you so much; I've missed Ellie so much. How did we all grow so far apart?"

"No I should have listened to Ellie and forgiven you a long time ago. I just can't believe that it took a tragedy to bring us together.

Paige pulled away from Marco. "The only thing that will make this a tragedy is if Ellie dies and that isn't going to happen. Do you hear me Eleanor you are not going to die. Not today or tomorrow and not because of this. You are going to wake. Queen bee take no prisoners Paige was starting to shine through. She went back to sitting on the bed with Ellie and took her hand just like Sean had done. "Ellie when you get out of this dreadful place you and Marco are going to have to come back to LA to visit. And I promise diva Paige will not make an appearance so you won't have to worry about that. The three of us can do the trip right this time. I won't have any distractions to keep me from showing you guys the best time. Plus you could us some sun you are starting to look like a vampire you are so pale. God hon sunlight isn't the enemy. Oh my god there is this amazing restaurant that I need to take you to, you are going to love it."

Marco listened to Paige in disbelief. It wasn't going to be that easy Ellie wasn't going to bounce back from this. "Paige." He said placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

She looked over when she heard Marco whisper her name. She was met with a sympathetic look as he shook his head. Paige jumped off of the bed almost knocking a startled Marco over. "Everyone inside." She said as she ripped the door open.

Everyone looked at one another not knowing how to take Paige's outburst but went into the room regardless. "We all need to get one thing straight. We are here to support Ellie and help her get better not sit around and think of all the bad things that can happen. Ellie will pull through this so stop acting like this is the end."

"What's with the 180?" Jimmy whispered to Spinner. Just a half hour Paige was like a walking zombie with all the grief that she had.

Spinner looked down at him wide eyed and just nodded.

"Paige you need to be realistic here I want Ellie to be ok just as much as you do but I'm not going to ignore what the doctor said." Emma tried to reason.

"God shut up. Ellie has to be ok…"

"Paige…" Marco tried to but in.

"No, she has to be…" Paige felt Sean's arm wrap around her before she collapsed to the ground in tears.

Sean held Paige as she cried. "You're right you know Ellie will be ok. We all need her way to much."

Everyone watched as Paige clung to Sean. "Wow I'm really glad that you brought him here." Marco said. He felt bad that he couldn't comfort Paige the way that Sean was he just didn't know how.

"Apparently they kept in touch. I didn't know before today he never said anything. I guess she helped him a lot after he got back. He won't say anything to you but he was pissed that no one called him. Hell if I didn't need his car he wouldn't have even known about Ellie."She said watching her friend help her ex-girlfriend in her time of need.

"What do we do know?" Paige asked as Sean helped her stand up.

"We wait and pray for the best."

For the next few hours everyone was talking about their favorite memories with Ellie until they all heard loud beeping coming from Ellie's bed.

"What's going on?" Alex asked looking around the room in a panic.

"Nurse something is wrong." Spinner yelled running to the door only to notice that they were all running towards the room.

"Everyone get out of the way." A nurse called.

"We need as much room as we can get."

"Someone page Dr. Drake we need to get her up to surgery stat."

I tried to do my best at showing how Ellie could be in love with Ryan even after what he was doing to her. I also wanted to include people from her past that would truly care if something like this would have happened.


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2 (I am making up like everything involving the surgery. I know like nothing at all when it comes to stuff like this.)

Marco, Paige, Spinner, Emma, Jimmy, Alex, and Sean were in the hospital waiting room in St. Thomas Hospital waiting for news on Ellie's condition.

"God it's been hours and we still don't know anything." Jimmy said throwing the magazine that he was reading down on the table.

"It's going to take as long as it takes." Emma tried to reason.

"What the hell does that even mean?" Sean asked rubbing his forehead. He needed a drink or something to help his nerves.

"No need to snap at her she is only trying to help." Spinner said defending his wife.

Sean watched Spinner stand up and get into a protective stance in front of Emma. It took everything in him not to match his stance. It wasn't that he didn't like Spinner or the fact that he was married to Emma. It had more to do with pride no one tried to out tough him and got away with it. "I didn't snap at her. We are all on edge ok I didn't mean anything by it."

"Spin he's right. Just calm down." Jimmy said trying to talk down his friend.

"Hey the doctor is coming." Paige jumped out of her seat when she noticed him coming. "I can't tell if it's good or bad."

"He's a doctor they have the best poker faces. They don't want to give the wrong impression." Alex said coming up being her.

"Are you all here for Ellie?" Dr. Drake asked when he arrived in front of the group.

"Yes we are her family." Paige told him. "Is she ok?"

"You all knew that before we had to take Ellie into surgery the massive head trauma and brain swelling. We needed to go into emergency brain surgery. We drained fluid from her brain when the pressure got to high. That was why her monitors where going off. When we were inside her skull we found some pieces of bone lodge inside her brain. I'm sorry to tell you this up Ellie is brain dead the only thing keeping her alive are the machines. She isn't going to wake up. We need to notify her next of kin about whether or not to take her off of life support."

"She has no next of kin. Her parents died in a fire. She has no one else just us." Marco told the doctor.

"Do you know if she had a living will?"

Sean took this moment to get out of his chair and walk toward the doctor. "Uh yeah she has one but I don't know where it is." He noticed the looks that everyone was giving him so he continued. "After I got back she told me about her parents and how it happened so fast. That she didn't even know that they had a will. I asked her if she had on and she said no. I told her to look into it, you know for emergencies. She made me get one too. She didn't want to be the only one thinking about death."

"We can contact the lawyer that drew up the papers they always have a copy. By any chance do you know her thoughts on life support?"

"She uh didn't want to be kept on machines." He said closing his eyes hoping that this was all a nightmare.

"No we are not taking her off of life support. We are not ending her life." Marco yelled at the group he couldn't believe that they were even discussing this.

"It's what she wanted, who are we to stand in the way?" Alex asked.

"You have no say in this you have been gone for years. When was the last time you even talked to Ellie?" Emma threw back.

Alex was shocked by Emma's attitude. "I've been her friend for a whole hell of a lot longer than you Greenpeace. So don't even try and pull that crap on me." She said getting in Emma's face.

"Enough of this it isn't helping anything." Jimmy yelled. "These are our last moments to be with Ellie. Alex is right we will follow whatever her living will said once we get a copy. And so help me god if any of you continue to fight and bicker I am going to make sure your asses get thrown out of here.

Dr. Drake just stood there and watched as the group of friends began to fight and then Jimmy putting an end to it all. He had dealt with high tensioned situations before but there was something about this group of friends that just put all of them to shame. "If it is any consolation you won't be ending Ellie's life or killing her. You are just letting her find peace. There is no rush and she is back in her room if you would like to say your goodbyes." With that Dr. Drake left.

"Jimmy why don't you go first." Marco told him.

"No man you are her best friend you should go."

"I'm not ready yet. You go."

Jimmy just looked at his friend before he started to wheel his way back down the hallway and into Ellie's room. "Hey El I hope you aren't in any pain anymore. You know I haven't told anyone this but I started to work on a comic book. All because there was a red-headed girl that believed in my art, she opened my eyes and made me realize I was more than a basketball player. I owe you so much I just can't believe that this is the end." Jimmy waited a few more minutes before he kissed Ellie's hand and left the room.

Alex was the next person to go and say her goodbye to Ellie. "Look at what you've gotten yourself into this time Nash. I never could have imagined that something like this would happen to you. You were supposed to be some awesome reporter. Not this. God how did this happen. I wish we could go back in time back to when we were all happy and close. I'm so sorry that I have been distant. Sean told me that you sent him to me. Thank you for that I was so lost and he helped me. Goodbye Nash I will never forget how amazing you are."

"Let's do this together." Emma told Spinner while they were standing outside of Ellie's room.

Spinner walked into the room "anything you want. I don't really know what to say to you Ellie. You have always been a constant in my life even if we didn't always hang out together or if I ever really noticed. God do you remember when you moved here and Jimmy and I had crushes on you. You didn't even bat an eye at us. You were too cool for me even back then."

"I think we are all too cool for you Spin." Emma joked. "Well it's a good thing for me no isn't it that she is too cool for you. Ellie I am so sorry for all the things that I did. I know that we talked about it and everything is in the past but I just want you to know that I'm sorry. I don't know what I'm going to do without you. You have become my best friend. Who am I going to call when Spinner annoys me or have lunch with and then go shopping. I just wish that we had more time. I love you Ellie."

"Oh god Ellie I wish you would have come to me with this. You know that you could come to me with anything. When I left you that first time to figure out my life I know I hurt you it just didn't sink in until later that maybe going to my parents wasn't what I needed. But you are one of a kind you forgave me and then went out of your way to help me when I didn't know who else to turn too. I can't believe that I'm going to lose you. You are the only person that never judged me never expected me to be more than I was. I wish that I would have known what was going on I would have stopped him. I will miss you for the rest of my life." Sean stood up and kissed Ellie's forehead as a final goodbye.

"Eleanor." Paige said as she crawled into Ellie's bed and lay down next to her. "I let you down I know that now. There were so many times that I could have come home but I always thought that I would have more time. If I would have come back I would have seen that something was wrong that you were hiding something. I know that you hated me when I got you help for cutting yourself but you came to realize that I was only trying to help. God we had some ups and downs didn't we. If it wasn't for Marco and moving in together we probably wouldn't even talk to each other. Wow we would have missed out on a friendship for the ages and now for the rest of my life I get to miss one of the most honest and beautiful people that I know. I don't know how to spend the rest of my life without you. I keep trying to think of what you would say in a situation like this, what you would tell me to do. That you would want me to move on and be happy, and I will but not until I make that monster pay. It won't be like Dean; Ryan isn't going to get away with this. I will stake me life on it because I love you and you deserve better."

"This was not how things were supposed to happen. You and I were supposed to grow old together. You marry some amazing guy and have a bunch of kids. And I was supposed to find some hot guy and adopt. Then our kids would fall in love and get married and have kids. Us being grandparents together talking about the good old days. Ryan took that away from me he took you away from me. I wish that I had more time or that a miracle could happen that you would wake up and tell me to stop crying. But you won't. I made you a promise that I wouldn't let anything happen to you and I failed. How can I forgive myself for this? For letting this happen to you. I keep trying to look for signs but like Jimmy said maybe you didn't want me to see them. But why El? Why didn't you come to me we could have figured something out. At least you get to be with your parents now. I know that you miss them. I know that where ever you are you will be watching over us. And that you will always be with me even if I can see or touch you. I love you Ellie Nash now and always."

Marco left Ellie's room to return to the others. He felt a vibration in his pocket it took him a minute to realize that it was his phone. "Oh god it's Craig." He didn't realize he said that out loud until he noticed the sympathetic looks that he was getting. "What do I do?"

"Tell him the truth. We are all here for you, you aren't alone for this." Sean told him making room for Marco to sit.

"But he is. He is on tour somewhere how is he going to take this?"

"It doesn't matter he needs to know." Paige told him gently taking the phone away from him. "Hello."

"Uh hey I called Marco right?" Craig asked confused.

"Yeah it's Paige. Marco can't come to the phone right now."

"Is he with Ellie? How is she? Did she wake up?"

Paige could feel the tears burn in her eyes but she knew if they started to fall she wouldn't be able to speak or if she would ever be able to stop. Craig was asking a million questions and he sounded so hopeful.

"You know the other day we drove past the rock n roll hall of fame and I thought that it would be a great place to take Ellie. You know how much she loves music. I was thinking about a road trip you know to visit all these rock n roll hot spots like its history and stuff."

"Craig…"

"Yeah Paige I know that we are too old for a road trip but what the hell right. If not now then when?"

"Craig…"

"I'm sure that she is still mad but she will get over it. We talked about everything before she understood. Sure she wasn't happy but she knew in the end that everything would work itself out."

"Craig please stop." Paige yelled into the phone. After a few seconds of silence she continued. "I'm sorry Craig but Ellie is gone. We lost her."

"No that's not possible."

"It is. The doctor said that she was brain dead. We are going to unplug the machines soon."

"What you are going to kill her. How could you do that?"

"This is what she wanted. She is already gone." She tried to reason with him.

"She can't be gone. This has to be a mistake."

"I'm sorry Craig."

"It's ok Paige I have to go." Craig said hanging up. He couldn't believe what Paige had told him. He thought that there was more time. That he could make it home to her and he was too late once again. Craig ran off the tour bus ignoring the calls from his band mates he just needed to get away. He ran until his legs couldn't hold him anymore.

Alex went over to comfort Paige when she got off the phone they all could tell that it didn't go over that well.

"I guess that it's time." Marco said heading back to the room one last time. He knew that everyone was following him even if they didn't say anything.

"I'll get the doctor to meet us in there." Sean said stopping at the nurses' station.

"What do we do? I mean do we just stand here while she you know dies?" Emma asked.

"I didn't think about that. That we would actually be watching her die." Marco told her.

"No we should be here. She was alone for way to long you can leave if you want but I'm going to stay with her until the end. I wasn't there for her for the last few years but I can be here for this." Alex said taking Ellie's hand.

"She is right I'm staying too." Paige said talking Alex's other hand. She noticed that Marco had taken Ellie's hand as well.

"What the hell." Spinner said taking Marco and Emma's hand. "I can't believe we are doing this."

Sean tried not to laugh but he couldn't stop the grin from forming on his face. It was like some weird thing that they used to do in grade school. But if it helped everyone than he would do it too. "Paige." He asked holding out his hand.

"Sean" she smiled taking his offered hand. "I'm glad you are here."

"Me too."

Jimmy was left to complete the circle by holding Sean and Emma's hand. He looked around at his friends as the nurses started to turn off all of the machines. Marco and Paige were staring at Ellie not taking their eyes off of her. Alex was looking at the ceiling. Sean was watching Ellie's heart monitor. Spinner was trying to look at anything but what was in front of him and Emma had her eyes closed. One thing that they all had in common were the tears that were in their eyes. Some falling freely others trying to keep their composer.

Sean watched the monitor as Ellie's heart beat started to decrease. The constant beeping was driving him mad. He didn't need the sound to tell him that he was losing Ellie. Sean didn't have much time to think about that as he felt Paige start to wavier. Before he knew it Paige was going to the ground he let go of Jimmy's hand to steady Paige as the both went to the ground. He noticed Alex sit on the ground with them silently trying to comfort Paige. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she was just as thankful as he was to have something else to focus on instead of the inevitable.

"Time of death 4:16 pm. I am very sorry for your lose?" Dr. Drake said pronouncing the time of death.

"What happens now?"

"Well we will take Ellie's body down to the morgue and then ship her to whatever funeral home that is taking care of all the arrangements."

"God I didn't even think about what to do after she passed." Marco said looking down at Ellie.

"Don't worry about we can take care of it." Emma told him.

Paige's eyes narrowed. "Why you." She bit out.

Sean could feel Paige try to get up but he wasn't going to let her. He knew that she just wanted to pick a fight. It would give her something to control something to win at. It was exactly what he would do except Paige would use her words to cut someone apart and he would just beat the crap out of someone both of which would be something that Ellie wouldn't want.

Emma was shocked by the outburst "I didn't mean anything by it. I was going to ask my parents to help. They would know what to do. They helped with Ellie's parents."

Marco could tell that Paige was about to go on the war path. "Em that's fine why don't you go and get started. There isn't anything anyone can do here anymore."

"Yeah sounds good. We'll call you when you figure things out. See you guys later." Spinner said leading Emma out of the room. He knew Paige better than most so he knew to get out with his wife while he could.

A week later the group of friends were walking into the church for Ellie's funeral. Emma and her mom used the same one for that they used for Ellie's parents and following Ellie's will she was going to be sent to be cremated a headstone placed next to her parents.

"How are you guys holding up?" Sean asked when he walked up to Alex and Paige. The pair had been spending a lot of time lately.

"As good as could be expected." Alex said answering for both of them.

"It doesn't look that bad. I figured Emma would have screwed everything up." Paige said looking around the church. Ellie's favorite flowers were scattered throughout the church. The giant picture of Ellie in the front of the church was one that captured Ellie perfectly next to her ashes.

"Really Paige what is your problem. What do you have against Emma?" Sean asked rubbing his eyes. He did not want to play ref today.

Paige turned to glare at him. "Ellie was my best friend not hers. I should have been the one to do this. I'm supposed to know her better to know what she wants."

Sean moved in to hug Paige knowing that she was on the verge of tears. "Ellie knew that you loved her you didn't need to do this. All you need to do is remember that you loved her and honor her today. Everything else doesn't matter."

"Thank you." Paige said pulling away wiping the tears from her eyes. "I'm going to go and find Marco." She said walking away.

"Wow Cameron who when did you become so insightful."

Sean turned around at the sound of his name. "Jay I didn't know that you were coming. I thought that you were in LA with Manny?" he asked shaking his old friend's hand.

"Yeah I was but we heard about what happened and came back for the funeral. Manny is over with Emma." He said pointing in the direction of the girls. "We came in last night."

"Ellie and Manny never really got along."Sean commented.

"Well I always had a soft spot for Red and Manny is here to support Emma more than anything really." Jay explained.

Ashley walked into the church with Toby and Liberty. "I can't believe that I missed everything. I shouldn't have ignored Jimmy's call."

"You couldn't have known." Toby said trying to comfort his sister.

"It was a shock to everyone. No one could have predicted this." Liberty said leading them further in towards everyone else.

"She was my best friend and I can't even tell you the last time that I spoke to her and now I will never get the chance to." Ash said falling into the pew.

Toby kneeled down in front of Ash. "I know how much you are hurting. When JT died I didn't think that I would ever get over a loss like that. My best friend not being there anymore it's a pain that no one should have to go through and not as young as we are. But you need to learn from this. You need to make the most of the time that you have with the people that you care about. You need to grow up and be an adult."

"But it's hard. There is just so much pain."

"Every day it will hurt less and less but the pain will always be there. Right now every time you think of Ellie you want to cry. But eventually when you think of her you will smile and remember what a great impact she had on your life."

"Hey Ash." Jimmy said rolling over to the trio. "Toby, Liberty it's nice of you guys to come."

"Jimmy hey I'm sorry that I never called you back. I called Toby I hope that's alright."

"It's ok I was really busy at the hospital with Ellie and then helping Marco and Paige. Plus I had no idea what to tell you. Looks like Toby has everything under control here."

"Wait can't we talk?"

"This isn't the time or place even if I did have something to say to you."

"God I'm sorry can't you listen to me."

Jimmy rolled closer to Ashley. "Look I told you this wasn't the time in case you forgot this is Ellie's funeral not the place to talk about you lying and cheating on me. I know that you are upset about Ellie we all are but I'm not going to sugar coat everything for you." He said trying to find Marco and Spinner.

"Girl problems?" Spinner asked he had watched the whole thing between Jimmy and Ashley.

"You know I didn't want to be the jerk that walked right past without even acknowledging her presence so I said hi. She goes from all depressed and crying about Ellie to wanting to talk. I'm tired of talking and after what you told me about her ignoring my phone call and not listening to my voicemail what's the point."

"I don't think Emma wanted me to tell you that."

"How I know isn't the point it's that's how she reacted."

"What's got you all angry?" Craig asked when he and Marco reached the guys.

"Oh hey, when did you get in?"

"A few hours ago I was just walking around you know trying to make sense of all this. Try and figure out how to handle this."

"Well if you figure it out than let me know." Marco tied to joke. "Paige, Alex and, I have been doing nothing but eating junk food and watching bad TV. I think we bought all the tissues in the store."

"Yeah Em she would go strong with all the arrangements and than do nothing but cry. Now Manny is here and I don't know if it's making things better or worse."

"Manny's here. Why? They hated each other." Craig asked confused.

"That's were the worst part come in. Toby and Liberty came over and were remembering Ellie and then Manny was feeling left out and I think a little betrayed that Emma had a new best friend. So she started to bring up the rivalry thing and it got really ugly. Manny ran away crying. Emma felt bad they made up and now Manny is supporting Emma. That is the good."

"God I'm glad that I wasn't in the war zone." Jimmy joked. "So are they staying with you guys?"

"Up nothing like my wife, her best friend who is my ex, and her boyfriend who is my friend but at the same time an ass. It's like I can't win. I look forward to going to work and they have only been here a day."

"Hurricane Manny what can you say."

"I don't want to talk about it. So rock star how is the tour going." Spin asked trying to change the topic.

"I put it on hold my manager was pissed. But I need to be home right now with you guys. I wish I would have realized that a long time ago. Maybe things would be different."

"You can't keep beating yourself up over this. It happened there is nothing that you can do."

"I guess I always thought that she would wait for me you know. I know that she said that she wouldn't that she would move on with her life and follow her dreams while I was off following mine."

"She wanted you to be happy. For you to do what you love, if you start doubting all this now you want be honoring her and what she wanted just like she would still want you to follow your music." Marco said comforting his friend.

"My head knows that but my heart it feels like it's going to explode from all this pain."

"It looks like Emma wants to get started." Spinner said as he noticed his wife walk towards the podium.

Emma watched as everyone found a seat so they could get started. She didn't know why she was the one that was standing up starting everything off. Part of her felt like a fraud that there were people more worthy of this honor, people that Ellie loved more than her. "I would like to thank everyone for being her today. I'm sure Ellie would have loved to see all of you and know that she meant something special to each and every one of you."She looked at the crowd noticing everyone staring at her. She was starting to feel self conscious. "I know that some of you are wondering why I'm up here and well I don't know." Emma said running off the platform.

The crowd started to whisper about what just happened. Paige took this moment to approach the podium. "Today I was told that Ellie loved me and cherished the friendship that we had. I already knew that but hearing it helped me a lot. I'm sure you are wondering why I'm telling you this. Well it's because for the last week I was incredibly mean and selfish about Ellie. I felt like I was being replaced in my role as Ellie's best girl friend. We had been through a lot together and I wanted to be the one that she could turn to myself and of course Marco. I realized that I was wrong and that Ellie could care about more than us. That she could be friends and care about other people. The day that Ellie died I snapped at Emma for suggesting being in charge of the funeral arrangements. I was wrong to do that and I see know that she did everything that Ellie would have wanted and to be honest things that I wouldn't have thought to do. Emma just said that she didn't know why she was up here talking to everyone and as much as I hate to admit it Ellie cared about Emma and they were truly great friends. I'm sure you are all wondering why I am telling you all this and not talking about Ellie. Well its because Ellie hated to be the center of attention and she would want us all to use this time to reach out to one another and help during this time of great pain. As impossible as I find it to be she wouldn't want us to be sad and cry she would want us to look around at the friends that have come together here today. Her death brought us all back together brought everyone home at least for the time being she wouldn't want us to reconnect. We all have memories of Ellie I think now is the time to remember them and the good times that we all had together."

Sean watched Paige walk away and head back to her seat. He stood up on the bench and addressed the group of people. "Everyone knows that in high school Ellie and I moved in together. Everyone thought that we were crazy but she needed somewhere to go and needed to have her with me. She told me that it wasn't a home until we had a pet so she got is Ferret Buller. I hated that thing but he made her so happy. And for the first time in my life I had a home and all it took was girl and a ferret."

Marco followed Sean and stood up on the bench. "Ellie was the first person I told about being gay. She didn't judge me or try and change me god she even pretended to be my girlfriend so that I could keep up my charade. From that moment on I knew that I could trust Ellie with anything and she would accept me and help me if I needed it. We had been friends for so long I don't know how to live without her but at least I got to know her and she meant the world to me."

"I met Ellie when I was in a really bad place. I had figured out a way to alienate everyone that I know turning them all against me. Then there was a new girl in school who had her own style and didn't care about what people thought of her. That girl as we all know was Ellie and she befriended me not caring that everyone in the school hated me. I remember the time that we went to get out belly buttons pierced after she got hers done I chickened out. She didn't make fun of me or anything she just told me that it didn't matter and it wasn't going to change the fact that we were friends." Ashley told her story.

"The first time I really spent any time with Ellie was when we had a Saturday detention. I always thought that she was this really weird girl with the way that she dressed and wore her hair. But that day I saw a different side of Ellie. Even with that and being in the same band together we were never all that close. And maybe I blamed her for things that weren't her fault but we all make mistakes. I hope where ever she is that she forgives me." Hazel felt her skin start to heat up as everyone turned to look at her. She wanted to step down from the bench but Marco, Sean, and Ashley were all still standing. To say people were surprised to see her would be an understatement but she felt like she should come and show her respects.

Jimmy couldn't help but smile at Hazel she looked better than he remembered. "First I would like to say that I hate all of you right now because I can't be a part of this amazing show and stand on top of a bench and tell the world my story." Jimmy joked causing people all over to laugh. His heart skipping a beat when he watched Hazel laugh and shack her head to him. "When I was shot I thought that my life was over. Being told that I could never walk again was like being shot all over again. I didn't realize how bad it was until I realized that I couldn't play basketball anymore. Basketball was my life what I was great at. Then along came Ellie Nash and she showed me this great big world of art something that I never thought about before. Sure I doodled but I never thought that I could make anything of it. But she believed in me and for that she gave me a new aspect on life. For that I will always be great full to Ellie."

Emma was the next to stand. "Ellie and I had a rough beginning we were both were in love with the same person. Everyone says that you remember your first love and Ellie and I both shared the same person. But we moved past that and moved on to other people. Marco and I were working at Degrassi and Ellie and I got reacquainted. The three of us were supposed to go out but Marco being Marco was late. Leaving Ellie and I to spend together and it started out awful I was considering just leaving but we started to talk and I realized that I had a lot in common with her. That we could be really good friends and we were. I just hope that I do right by her.

Jay was about to stand when he noticed the look that Manny was giving him. He just shrugged his shoulders and stood up. "I can't believe that I'm doing this. But Red was one of kind and not as lame as I thought that she was. I don't really have that much to say I would hang out with Sean and she would be there. My ex girl friend started to hang out with her and then dated her friends. One thing that I can say is that we had one hell of a back and forth she was always good with a comeback she was witty like that. I'm going to miss that about her."

"Wow Jay that didn't suck half as much as I thought it would." Alex said standing up.

"Well Lexi that was a nice try but Red could have done a lot better." Jay smirked.

"I know she had an amazing way with words. Ellie was different from the other girls that I would hang out with. I could intimidate anyone into doing anything but not Ellie she could think for herself and wasn't going to do anything that she didn't want to do. I remember teaching her how to play cards she was a quick study and we made so much money off of that." Alex laughed at the memory. "After Sean left she asked me to move in with her but I told her that it wasn't a good idea. Turns out a few years later I would end up moving in with her, Paige and Marco. Three people that I would never be caught dead with now wishing that I could have one more day for the four of us to be together."

"Ellie stole my spot in a band. She replaced me as the drummer in Craig's band. When I found out about that I was shocked. Sure I knew that I was never going to be in that band again but I didn't think that they would replace me. But Ellie she was a good pick. I had done so pretty horrible things and it took a lot of time for people to forgive me. Ellie tried to move things along she helped Marco and I become friends again and that lead the way to Jimmy and Craig. She may have given Jimmy a new life but she helped me get my old life back." Spinner took his wife's hand and kissed it.

Craig was the last on to stand. "Ellie had always been on the outskirts of my life. She was friends with Marco and Ash. She was there when we all hung out together but it never meant anything to me until the summer before senior year. We were in group together telling each other and the other people in group our deepest secrets and the things that we thought were wrong with us. She was always so honest in those meetings and that gave me the courage to tell things that I would otherwise never tell a soul. She helped me learn to be ok with the things that I couldn't control. She tried to fix me and protect me. Ellie was the one person that I never needed to be anyone else I never needed to impress her. Jay was right Ellie was one of a kind and I was so lucky to know her I think we all are."

After everyone was done talking about their memories of Ellie everyone started to leave the church.

"So what do we do with her ashes?" Alex asked.

"She wanted them to be put in the lake." Emma told them.

"I guess we are going to the lake then. Should we carpool?"

"That would be best then we all could come back to the Dot." Spinner said before heading to his car with Emma, Manny and Jay. Liberty left with Toby and Ashley. Paige, Alex, Marco and Sean went in another car with Craig Jimmy and Hazel to go together.

Everyone arrived at the lake and made their way to the water. "I wonder why Ellie picked this place." Spinner asked.

"She always found it calming we would come here sometimes after group. She really loved the water." Craig said placing his hand in the water.

"Well I guess this is it." Marco said opening the urn. He looked inside and couldn't believe that this is all that was left of his best friend. Marco kneeled down and gently started to pour the ashes out. "Good bye Ellie."

As of now this is where the story ends I tried to bring back people the Ellie sent time with or knew. I might do another chapter that will be an alternative ending but for now its complete. Thanks for reading.


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